The new treatment plant is located in Woodside in the Adelaide Hills, and treats wastewater from several catchments including Lobethal, Woodside, Charleston and Inverbrackie. It replaces an existing plant built in 1965 which consisted of a series of 10 treatment lagoons. The discharge from the original plant to Dawesley Creek was foul smelling and often green in colour due to algae, causing ongoing concerns for the local Adelaide Hills community.
The project involved the detailed design, construction and commissioning of a new 12.5 ML/d wastewater treatment plant, replacing an existing plant to treat flows from Lobethal and Woodside, Adelaide Hills, and provide reuse water to new reuse customers.
Scope included the civil, mechanical, electrical aspects of the following key elements:
The plant was designed, constructed and successfully commissioned within two years, achieving operating targets three weeks after commissioning.
The project team was able to deliver on time and on budget, while also providing significant added value through a number of innovative improvements to the original scope:
Bird in Hand is the first SA Water regional WWTP to:
The plant achieves 100% biosolid reuse via composting.
The completed Bird in Hand wastewater treatment plant is highly energy efficient, allows for 100% reuse of biosolids and has been greeted with great enthusiasm by the local community.